Bob Sikoryak
“You have to supply the connections,” says Bob Sikoryak, BFA Illustration ’87. He is discussing the challenge of his latest illustration project—iTunes Terms and Conditions: The Graphic Novel, shown above. Because his absurdist parody of Apple’s lengthy contract lacked a traditional narrative, Sikoryak made Steve Jobs a through-line to connect the scenes. Each panel features Jobs rendered in the style of a popular cartoonist like Roz Chast, Matt Groening, or Lynda Barry.
The book originally appeared on Sikoryak’s Tumblr before circling the Web and being printed as a limited-edition chapbook. He recently adapted the piece into a live performance.
Explaining his protean style, Sikoryak says, “As a Parsons student, I impatiently tried different things. I never liked the way I drew. Parody let me keep experimenting.” Since then, Sikoryak has become an artist, animator, and Parsons professor creating work for RAW, Drawn & Quarterly, The Daily Show, The Onion, and New Yorker covers. His signature style combines humor, literary allusion, and references to illustration’s history. Connecting his many projects is a professed “love of work that comments on culture.”